1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to information delivery over a wide area network, and more particularly, to a method, system and program to efficiently deliver real-time, local, and personally relevant weather content directly to an end user client device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since the advent of the Internet it has been widely believed that the Internet would be the medium of choice for the delivery of personalized content, be it news, weather, sports, entertainment or otherwise. While progress has been made in many areas, many shortcomings remain in this medium, particularly in the area of the delivery of weather information.
Of all content areas, weather is extremely unique for a number of reasons. Unlike other content areas, the current weather experienced by almost every individual is different. At a minimum, very small changes in geographic location can result in experiencing significant changes in weather conditions. Furthermore, weather is dynamic and changes in real-time. Conditions experienced now are almost certain to change in a very short period of time.
Current delivery of weather content on the Internet falls short in a number of areas. First, users are required to direct their web browser to a specific Uniform Resource Location (URL), requiring several key strokes. Once at a particular web page with weather content, in most circumstances, the user must navigate to his local information through a series of clicks on geographic maps or via entry of his zip code. Once a user arrives at a web page with local information it is typically neither local (by weather standards), or current (real-time by weather standards). For example, the reporting location for most web sites is a local airport with data delivered by the National Weather Service (NWS). Since most people do not live near the airport, conditions often vary from their own location. Further, airport observations from the NWS are typically 30-90 minutes old by the time they are delivered to an end user on the web.